Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the misuse of alcohol is addressed in the new GP contracts.

Malcolm Chisholm: The misuse of alcohol is specifically addressed in the new GMS contract for GPs. A National Enhanced Service (NES) will be introduced which is designed to improve the quality of care provided by practices to patients who misuse alcohol. Quality will be improved by providing incentives and training GPs as part of the NES to advise and treat alcohol misuse patients. The NES also allows for the undertaking of more specialised treatment of alcohol dependent patients.

  It will be for the Primary Care Trust/NHS board to commission this service taking a view of local need.

  Full details of the service outline are available in the supplementary information to the new contract published by the NHS Confederation and the British Medical Association.

Apprenticeships

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will increase the number of modern apprenticeships and training opportunities that are available in Greenock and Inverclyde, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has committed to increasing the number of modern apprenticeship places in Scotland to 30,000 by 2006 as outlined in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

  The detail of the number of places available in Greenock and Inverclyde is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Audiology

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the £8 million for audiology services announced on 5 February 2003 will be spent on the introduction of digital hearing aids and whether this money will be ring-fenced.

Mr Tom McCabe: NHS boards are currently developing action plans for hearing aid services modernisation, which will include provision of digital hearing aids when this is the more clinically effective option. It is not possible to confirm how the £8 million, announced for modernisation, will be utilised until such time as these plans have been received and considered by the Modernisation Project Board. The cost of providing digital hearing aids cannot be separately identified at this stage.

  The Executive will appoint a project manager to facilitate and co-ordinate modernisation activity over the next two years and will expect NHS boards to provide additional funding from their own resources to support implementation of this project.

Audiology

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when its commitment to allow the provision of digital hearing aids and support on a routine basis where they are the most clinically effective option will be delivered, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Mr Tom McCabe: NHS boards are currently developing action plans for hearing aid services modernisation, which will include provision of digital hearing aids when this is the most clinically effective option. These plans will then be considered by the Audiology Modernisation Project Board. Progress will be monitored through the project board and the performance assessment framework for NHS Scotland.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what body was appointed as external auditor to the Care Commission and what role that body will take in the external review into the operational procedures of the commission.

Mr Tom McCabe: Under the terms of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, the Auditor General is responsible for the external audit of the Care Commission. In addition to conducting the audit of the commission’s accounts, the Auditor General may initiate an examination into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the Care Commission has used its resources in discharging its functions. In determining whether such an examination should be carried out, the Auditor General must take into account any proposals made by Parliament.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources and guidelines it has given to local authorities in respect of the provision of support for any service provider subject to a complaint investigation by the Care Commission.

Mr Tom McCabe: No such resources or guidelines have been provided to local authorities.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers have been given to the Convener of the Care Commission under the terms of the Scheme of Delegation.

Mr Tom McCabe: The convener is appointed under Schedule 1 Section 6 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 and is personally responsible to Scottish ministers for ensuring that the Care Commission’s policies are compatible with those of the Scottish ministers and for ensuring probity in the conduct of the Care Commission’s affairs. The Care Commission is responsible for the operation of its Scheme of Delegation.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to intervene following any critical inspection report by the Care Commission.

Euan Robson: There is no power in the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 relating to a service registered under part 1 of that act which would enable Scottish ministers to intervene in the running of that service.

  Where a service is registered under part 2 of the act, section 42(1) empowers Scottish ministers to take action on receipt of a report by the Care Commission.

  However, section 6 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 empowers Scottish ministers to carry out inspections of places, facilities and records relating to services provided by virtue of the 1968 act.

Care of Elderly People

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on the care of elderly people in 2002-03; of this, how much was spent on the care of elderly people specifically as a result of the introduction of free personal care and how much it estimates will be spent on such care in 2003-04 and any subsequent years for which it has made estimates.

Mr Tom McCabe: The most up to date information available regarding expenditure on the care of older people, contained in the Local Authority Provisional Outturn figures for 2002-03, indicates that £762,952,000 was spent on older people in the 2002-03 financial year. Information regarding the amount spent specifically on the care of older people as a result of the introduction of free personal care is not held centrally.

  Based on the Care Development Group estimations, £107 million was allocated to local authorities for the period 1 July 2002 to 31 March 2003. Local authorities are in receipt of £143 million in 2003-04. Estimates for 2004-05 and 2005-06 are £147 million and £153 million respectively.

Civil Partnerships

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce civil partnerships.

Cathy Jamieson: We note the UK Government's consultation on civil partnership registration for same-sex couples and are considering how to proceed on this matter.

Construction Industry

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27752 by Iain Gray on 15 August 2002, what the current status is of the Rethinking Construction Panel and the Core Industry Group.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current status is of the Modernising Construction initiative and how this initiative will relate to the recent formation of Construction Excellence as a UK body.

Lewis Macdonald: The Modernising Construction Strategic Group, involving industry, clients and government, was formed in October 2002 and has been facilitated by Scottish Enterprise. The group has finalised a three-year strategy paper for improving the industry, which was presented to me today and published. A key recommendation within the paper is the creation of a Scottish Construction and Innovation Forum, the chair of which will attend UK-wide groups to share knowledge and learning.

Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all public service staff interfacing with the public have access to deaf awareness training and, if not, what plans it has to introduce such training.

Mr Andy Kerr: The provision of staff training by non-departmental public bodies, NHS bodies, local authorities and other public service providers is generally a matter for those bodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

Defence

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was consulted by Her Majesty's Government about the economic and social impact of any proposed reduction in Scotland's six remaining infantry regiments and, in particular, whether Her Majesty's Government has had any discussions with the Executive about the future of the Highlanders Regiment.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including defence.

Dentistry

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether salaried dentists may be appointed when there is no provision of NHS dental services within reasonable access in the Scottish Borders.

Mr Tom McCabe: When any NHS board or Primary Care NHS Trust considers that the existing general dental service provision is insufficient to meet the demands of the local population and no independent General Dental Practitioner is available to fill the gap, approval can be sought from Scottish ministers to appoint a salaried dentist.

Dentistry

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been made for salaried dentists in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04 to date and what percentage of these applications has been approved, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Tom McCabe: The number of substantive applications for salaried dentist posts are shown broken down by area in the following table:

  

 NHS Board
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 Total


 Argyll and Clyde
 1
 2
 1
 
 2
 6


 Ayrshire and Arran
 
 
 3
 
 
 3


 Borders
 
 
 2
 2
 3
 7


 Dumfries and Galloway
 
 
 
 4
 
 4


 Fife
 
 
 
 
 2
 2


 Forth Valley
 
 
 
 
 9
 9


 Grampian
 2
 1
 5
 2
 
 10


 Highland
 1
 3
 1
 5
 1
 11


 Lanarkshire
 
 
 1
 
 1
 2


 Lothian
 
 
 
 3
 2
 5


 Orkney
 
 1
 
 3
 
 4


 Shetland
 
 1
 1
 
 
 2


 Total
 4
 8
 14
 19
 20
 65



  No substantiated applications for salaried posts have been rejected. Information about incomplete or provisional applications for such posts or inquiries about possible such posts has not been retained. There are current discussions with Highland and Greater Glasgow Primary Care NHS Trusts about the possibility of further such posts in their areas.

Dentistry

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what remedies there are to patients who lose access to NHS dental services and are offered the option of purchasing dental services as private patients.

Mr Tom McCabe: Patients who lose access to NHS dental services should contact their local NHS board or Primary Care NHS Trust for advice on where to find their nearest NHS dental services, including what NHS emergency dental services may be available in their area.

  The majority of General Dental Practitioners are independent contractors. They are free to choose whether to join or remain on the dental list of an NHS board or Primary Care NHS Trust and whether to provide NHS treatment to individual patients.

Dentistry

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29466 by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 October 2002, how much of the £36 million for the modernisation and improvement of general practitioner and dental services was allocated to dental services and for what purposes this allocation was made.

Malcolm Chisholm: £4,281,000 has been allocated in the third tranche of funding to the following premises modernisation projects under this initiative, which wholly or in part involve dental services.

  

 Board
 Project
 Value
 Description


 Borders
 Eyemouth
 £39,300
 Upgrade of dental facilities 
  at Community School


 Dumfries and Galloway
 Stewartry
 £105,000
 Upgrade of 3 GDP practices 
  to accommodate community dental service


 Grampian
 Buckie/Keith
 £12,200
 Upgrade of dental facilities 
  in schools


 Greater Glasgow
 Easterhouse Health Centre
 £3,125,000
 Reconfiguration of Health Centre 
  including Dental Outreach Facility


 Highland
 Culloden
 £81,000
 Extension to medical centre 
  to provide dental clinic and accommodation


 Dunbar Hospital
 £43,300
 Dental surgery to be provided 
  within hospital at Thurso


 Lawson Memorial hospital
 £42,200
 Dental surgery to be provided 
  within hospital at Golspie


 Lothian
 Lauriston Walk in Dental Centre
 £558,000
 Introduction of a service to 
  meet immediate and medium dental treatment needs


 Orkney
 Stromness
 £200,000
 New build community dental 
  facility


 Tayside
 Perth/Dundee
 £75,000
 Improvement to emergency dental 
  premises

Diabetes

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS 24 regarding specialist diabetic advice.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our Scottish Diabetes Framework recognises that good patient information is an essential part of diabetes care, and NHS 24 has an important role to play in that context. We have had no discussions with NHS 24 regarding specialist diabetic advice, but understand that the care pathways for diabetes developed by NHS 24 take account of information provided by Diabetes UK (Scotland).

Education

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop partnerships between educational institutions and business in Greenock and Inverclyde, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is committed to developing partnerships between educational institutions and business to offer more apprenticeship and training opportunities as outlined in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

  The detail of how this will be undertaken in Greenock and Inverclyde is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Education

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the principles of open source are included in the teaching of IT and programming and, if so, how these principles are included.

Peter Peacock: School pupils studying National Qualification courses in computing or in information systems will learn about the various sources for software. At Higher level and above the teaching of software development and programming places considerable emphasis on modularity and re-usability, providing opportunities for teachers to make reference to the principles of an open source approach.

Environment

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, or intends to take, to reduce the incidence of ragwort poisoning on roadside verges.

Ross Finnie: Under the Weeds Act 1959, responsibility for the control of ragwort rests with the occupier of the land on which ragwort is growing. If ragwort growth on roadside verges has been caused by a ragwort problem on agricultural land, and is brought to the attention of the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, officials will carry out inspections of agricultural land and instigate proceedings.

  Under roads legislation (section 1 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984) local authorities have a general duty to maintain local roads and verges in their area. The local authorities are therefore responsible for maintaining the verges including the control of ragwort. Neither the Scottish ministers nor the Scottish Executive has any responsibility to intervene in how councils carry out their day to day responsibilities on this issue.

  Where ragwort is apparent on trunk road verges, embankments and central reserves, the Trunk Roads Maintenance Contracts require the Operating Companies to control injurious weeds, such as ragwort, by undertaking treatment, including hand pulling operations. An Independent Performance Audit Group, appointed by the Executive, monitors the services and performance provided by the Operating Companies. The Performance Audit Group is directly responsible to the Director of Trunk Roads in the Executive. Appropriate action will be taken by the Scottish Executive if the requirements of the contract with regard to weed control are not met.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for the repayment of loans granted by Scottish Enterprise to businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for prosecution of businesses that default on loans granted by Scottish Enterprise to businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct Scottish Enterprise to stop the prosecution of businesses that default on the repayment of loans granted by Scottish Enterprise to businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Mr Jim Wallace: No. This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise have specific criteria by which they assess what action is appropriate depending on the circumstances of the case.

Football

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what reallocation of funds has been made, or spent, from funds earmarked for hosting the European Football Championships in 2008.

Mr Frank McAveety: The funds earmarked to support the staging of the European Nations Football Championships in 2008 have been reallocated to support the Executive’s National and Regional Facilities Strategy as previously announced in March this year.

Health

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide funding to install defibrillators in shopping malls and supermarkets in line with the action taken by Her Majesty’s Government and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1544 on 12 August 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search ..

Health

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether hypertrophic cardiomyopathy will be made a notifiable disease so that all cases must be identified and statistics of its incidence produced.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency maintains data on the incidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In addition, the General Registrar’s Office has a code to record cardiomyopathy as a cause of death, if it appears on the death certificate. It is the responsibility of the doctor signing the death certificate to record accurately the cause of death.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposed compensation scheme for patients infected through contaminated blood products will include patients infected with cytomegalovirus.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive’s proposed ex-gratia scheme would apply exclusively to infection with hepatitis C through NHS treatment with blood and blood products and there are no plans to extend the scope of the scheme to cover any other virus.

Justice

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-34889 and S2W-111 by Mrs Elish Angiolini on 31 March and 21 July 2003 respectively, which sheriff court districts were not included in the data provided in the answer to question S1W-34889 because of the upgrading of the computer system in Glasgow.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: The data for the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin was not included in the data provided in the answer to question S1W-34889. Glasgow Sheriff Court is the only sheriff court within this jurisdiction.

Maternity Services

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, births in 2002 were planned home births, broken down by NHS board area.

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many women who planned home births were delivered in hospital in 2002 and, of these, how many women disagreed with the decision to give birth in hospital, broken down by NHS board area.

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many planned home births were not possible in 2002 due to staff shortages or rotas, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) junior, (b) staff and (c) registrar grade NHS accident and emergency doctors have been (i) recruited and (ii) employed in each NHS board area in each of last three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the number of staff recruited is not held centrally.

  However, information on the number of (a) House Officers/Senior House Officers (Junior, non-Registrar), (b) Staff and (c) Registrar Grade NHS doctors in post is collected as part of the annual workforce census at 30 September each year.

  Information for Accident and Emergency doctors, by NHS board are as shown in the table.

  Table 1: Accident and Emergency Doctors, by NHS BOARD area, as at 30 September

  

 
 House 
  Officer/Senior House Officer
 Staff 
  Grade
 Registrar 
  Grade Doctors


 2000
 2001
 2002
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2000
 2001
 2002


 Scotland
 198
 202
 227
 24
 29
 29
 32
 37
 42


 Argyll and Clyde
 17
 26
 28
 0
 0
 2
 3
 2
 4


 Ayrshire and Arran
 13
 15
 14
 6
 7
 6
 1
 1
 2


 Borders
 1
 3
 6
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 4
 5
 5
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Fife
 12
 12
 12
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Forth Valley
 10
 9
 11
 1
 1
 1
 0
 0
 0


 Grampian
 15
 23
 23
 2
 3
 3
 4
 7
 7


 Greater Glasgow
 51
 46
 55
 4
 3
 3
 9
 11
 11


 Highland
 6
 4
 6
 0
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0


 Lanarkshire
 25
 22
 28
 9
 8
 8
 2
 2
 1


 Lothian
 26
 21
 19
 1
 5
 4
 9
 10
 12


 Tayside
 18
 16
 20
 1
 1
 1
 4
 4
 5


 Orkney
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Shetland
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Western Isles
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0

NHS Staff

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there have been for (a) junior, (b) staff and (c) registrar grade NHS accident and emergency doctors in each NHS board area in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The number of vacant accident and emergency staff grade posts in NHS Scotland by NHS board area for each of the last three years is shown in the table.

  Table 1: Staff Grade Vacancies Within Accident and Emergency, by NHS Board at 30 September.

  

 
 2000
 2001
 2002


 Scotland
 1
 3
 1


 Argyll and Clyde
 0
 0
 1


 Ayrshire and Arran
 0
 1
 0


 Borders
 0
 0
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 0
 1
 0


 Fife
 0
 0
 0


 Forth Valley
 0
 0
 0


 Grampian
 0
 0
 0


 Greater Glasgow
 0
 0
 0


 Highland
 0
 0
 0


 Lanarkshire
 0
 1
 0


 Lothian
 0
 0
 0


 Tayside
 1
 0
 0


 Orkney
 0
 0
 0


 Shetland
 0
 0
 0


 Western Isles
 0
 0
 0



  Information on the number of junior and registrar grade NHS doctor vacancies is not collected centrally by ISD Scotland. As training grades, these posts are monitored by NHS Education for Scotland. National recruitment to existing accident and emergency training grade posts is not identified as a major issue, based on current trainee numbers.

NHS Waiting Lists

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients from the deferred waiting list were treated in each NHS board area in each quarter since June 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: The number of hospital discharges following admission from the deferred waiting list for in-patient or day case treatment in acute specialties, by NHS board area of residence, for each quarter from 30 June 1999 to 31 March 2002, is given in the table. Final figures for the quarters subsequent to 31 March 2002 are not yet available.

  The deferred waiting list was abolished on 1 April 2003.

  NHSScotland: Discharges from Acute1 Specialties Following Admission from the Deferred Waiting List, by NHS Board Area of Residence. Quarters Ended 30 June 1999 to 31 March 2002.

  

 NHS Board
 Quarter 
  Ended


 30 Jun 1999
 30 Sep 1999
 31 Dec 1999
 31 Mar 2000
 30 June 2000
 30 Sep 2000


 Argyll and Clyde
 1,295
 1,350
 1,311
 1,716
 1,735
 1,534


 Ayrshire and Arran
 754
 871
 864
 858
 727
 738


 Borders
 134
 112
 142
 125
 115
 114


 Dumfries and Galloway
 152
 210
 215
 326
 307
 251


 Fife
 369
 355
 365
 325
 387
 404


 Forth Valley
 597
 633
 605
 650
 548
 603


 Grampian
 1,150
 1,221
 1,059
 1,050
 913
 964


 Greater Glasgow
 1,196
 1,310
 1,393
 1,834
 1,692
 1,925


 Highland
 602
 598
 567
 552
 522
 632


 Lanarkshire
 984
 1,108
 1,079
 1,308
 1,298
 1,319


 Lothian
 891
 872
 922
 1,097
 1,050
 934


 Orkney
 24
 15
 16
 19
 11
 11


 Shetland
 63
 62
 41
 50
 49
 39


 Tayside
 353
 288
 287
 205
 233
 302


 Western Isles
 62
 61
 56
 71
 51
 62


 NHSScotland
 8,645
 9,084
 8,948
 10,202
 9,661
 9,848



  

 NHS Board
 Quarter 
  Ended


 31 Dec 2000
 31 Mar 2001
 30 Jun 2001
 30 Sep 2001
 31 Dec 2001
 31 Mar 2002


 Argyll and Clyde
 1,631
 1,756
 1,624
 1,642
 1,796
 1,391


 Ayrshire and Arran
 813
 1,008
 844
 957
 901
 943


 Borders
 126
 132
 132
 135
 100
 117


 Dumfries and Galloway
 255
 347
 252
 234
 221
 264


 Fife
 394
 455
 393
 401
 373
 341


 Forth Valley
 544
 528
 495
 613
 561
 500


 Grampian
 887
 964
 745
 871
 806
 772


 Greater Glasgow
 1,915
 1,857
 1,943
 1,924
 1,805
 1,905


 Highland
 616
 588
 515
 567
 603
 565


 Lanarkshire
 1,369
 1,372
 1,201
 1,178
 1,216
 1,181


 Lothian
 996
 1,004
 868
 922
 926
 750


 Orkney
 21
 11
 17
 12
 17
 18


 Shetland
 46
 39
 53
 68
 68
 109


 Tayside
 335
 339
 295
 256
 270
 320


 Western Isles
 55
 61
 63
 68
 88
 93


 NHSScotland
 10,021
 10,482
 9,463
 9,876
 9,776
 9,285



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

  Note:

  1. The acute sector relates to those specialties primarily concerned in the surgical, medical and dental sectors. Specifically excluded are obstetric, psychiatric and long stay sectors.

Non-Domestic Rates

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have been allocated extra time to pay their business rates for 2002-03 and what the average length of additional time allowed was for such payment.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally.

Non-Domestic Rates

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate has been made of any interest lost as a result of late payments of business rates for 2002-03.

Mr Andy Kerr: Local authorities have no powers to charge interest.

Nursing

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made on the implementation of its nursing bank arrangements to reduce the use of agency nurses, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Malcolm Chisholm: Work has begun on the commitment in the Partnership Agreement to implement nationally co-ordinated nursing bank arrangements to assist nurse placement across Scotland, to improve patient services and cut the cost of agency nursing.

  The work is in the early preparatory stages of establishing the remit for a project manager to undertake the work and a steering group to oversee it.

Nursing

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to establish a national NHS agency to reduce the use of agency and bank nurses and, if so, when it will be established.

Malcolm Chisholm: Work has begun on the Partnership Agreement commitment to implement nationally co-ordinated nurse bank arrangements to assist nurse placement across Scotland, to improve patient services and cut the cost of agency nursing.

  The timescale for implementation will be dependent on an initial option appraisal to identify the preferred way forward to meet the commitment.

Organ Donation

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what timescale it has set to implement the recommendations of the Scottish Transplant Group’s report An Organ Donation Strategy for Scotland and how it will evaluate the success of the strategy.

Malcolm Chisholm: The strategy sets out an on-going programme aimed at raising awareness of organ donation and thereby increasing the number of organs becoming available for transplantation. The most tangible indication of such awareness is the number of people adding their name to the NHS Organ Donor Register.

  The Scottish Transplant Group continues to meet regularly to monitor implementation of the recommendations.

Organ Donation

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase the number of donated human organs and whether it is considering the introduction of an opt-out system to increase such donations.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is continuing to implement the recommendations in the Scottish Transplant Group’s Organ Donation Strategy for Scotland , published in July 2002, which set out a range of initiatives to help increase organ donation rates.

  The Executive has no plans at present to move to a system of organ donation based on "opting out".

Rural Development

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of households live in rural poverty and what measurements it uses to define rural poverty.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive’s official measure of income poverty is the Department of Work and Pensions’ Households Below Average Income (HBAI) definition. Data for this comes from the Family Resources Survey which is not available below the Scotland level. However, an estimate of household income (income of first householder and their spouse/partner) is available in the following table on a spatially disaggregated basis from the 1999-2000 Scottish Household Survey .

  Table 1: Annual Net Household Income, by Area

  

 All Households 
 Large Urban 
  Areas
 Other Urban 
  Areas
 Accessible Small 
  Towns
 Remote Small 
  Towns
 Accessible Rural 
  Areas
 Remote Rural 
  Areas
 All


 Up to £6,000 
 15 
 13 
 13 
 14 
 13 
 16 
 14 


 £6,000 -£10,000 
 26 
 24 
 21 
 25 
 18 
 21 
 23 


 £10,000 - £15,000 
 22 
 21 
 22 
 22 
 19 
 21 
 22 


 £15,000 - £20,000 
 14 
 16 
 17 
 17 
 16 
 17 
 15 


 £20,000+ 
 23 
 26 
 27 
 23 
 35 
 25 
 26 


 Unweighted Base 
 9,906 
 9,217 
 2,865 
 1,384 
 3,723 
 2,471 
 29,566 



  Source: Scottish Household Survey 1999-2000.

  The Executive does not use a single measure of rural poverty. Poverty is a complex issue and encompasses not only poverty of income but poverty of opportunity. This was recognised by the Rural Poverty and Inclusion Working Group, whose recommendations on improving the evidence base for rural poverty are being taken forward. Urban-rural disaggregation is now available for 11 of the 29 Social Justice milestones, which cover a range of issues related to poverty of opportunity. The Scottish Executive’s long-term strategy for measuring deprivation using the Scottish Multiple Index of Deprivation, in both urban and rural areas, is currently under development.

Scottish Agricultural College

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the facilities used by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) at the Kings Buildings campus of the University of Edinburgh can only be sold to Edinburgh University; if so, under what terms, and whether the buildings will be valued independently of the SAC and the university.

Ross Finnie: I understand from the college that, in the event of it deciding to discontinue the provision of research into and teaching of agriculture at its buildings on the King’s Buildings Campus, the buildings could only be sold to the University.

  The buildings would transfer from the college to the university at a value determined by the Inland Revenue District Valuer, whose decision would be final and binding on both parties.

Social Justice

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will introduce to support the availability of healthy food of good quality for vulnerable people.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Partnership Agreement makes a commitment to support measures to improve the availability of affordable, quality healthy food in low-income areas. Work is delivering improvements to food access and availability through retailing, community and local planning processes and through the development of local nutrition action plans. The outcome of a Food Access conference held on 11 June 2003 will also guide future policy development in this area.

Waste Management

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will create opportunities for new products manufactured from waste, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Ross Finnie: The Executive provides funding to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and REMADE Scotland that aim to develop and expand markets for recycled products and materials. We will work in partnership with these bodies and the Enterprise Network to ensure that opportunities to make new products manufactured from waste are maximised.

Waste Management

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in increasing, and encouraging the enforcement of, penalties in respect of litter, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Ross Finnie: The level of fixed penalty fine for littering was increased from £25 to £50 on 1 July 2003. We are currently consulting in Putting our communities first: A Strategy for tackling Anti-Social Behaviour on means of improving the enforcement of penalties for littering.

Waste Management

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will assist local authorities to meet the target in A Partnership for a Better Scotland of recycling 25% of waste by 2006.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive will continue to work in partnership with individual local authorities, COSLA and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency to implement the National Waste Plan.

  We have allocated £230 million over this and the next two financial years to the Strategic Waste Fund to assist local authorities in achieving the national recycling and composting target of 25 per cent of municipal solid waste by 2006.

Water Services

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its water services bill.

Ross Finnie: We expect to make an announcement about this in the near future.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer what the overspend on the new Parliament building has been in each year since 1999 and which budget sub-head has met this overspend.

Mr George Reid: Expenditure on the new Parliament building at Holyrood has been less than the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body’s (SPCB) approved annual budget for each financial year since the commencement of the project. There has therefore been no overspend against budget. The expenditure, net of reclaimable VAT, for each year is shown in the table below.

  

 Year
 £ 
  Million


 1999-2000
 13.7


 2001-01
 27.1


 2001-02
 44.4


 2002-03 
 95.3P



  PProvisional subject to audit.

  The SPCB’s capital expenditure budget is reviewed by the Finance Committee each year and is formally approved by Parliament in the relevant budget act. Any underspend against the approved budget is available to carry forward to subsequent financial years under the end year flexibility provisions.